[Closed] Huge attrition rate of mtb riders after 50+

Do they quit MTBs or forums?

and don't do that. I read the title and thought I wasn't going to live much beyond my current 47 years 🙁

only 2 of us on the faster club MTB ride last night. I'm 50 in 6 weeks, Chris is 61. The youngsters went on the slower early ride 🙂

Some thoughts;

1) the older you get the less likely you are to answer polls on mtb websites.

2) There were less mtb riders in the older age brackets to start with

3) older people who ride don't identify themselves as 'mtbers' even if they ride bikes off road.

4) It's such a statistically small sample it has no meaning.

Do they quit MTBs or forums?

^this

One guy I ride with is 59 & he doesn't know how to text & another is mid 50's & we have to use his daughters FB wall to let him know when & where the Saturday morning rides are!

conversely I see a lot of older road riders I suppose MAMIL + ( the local cycling clubs ) and some are flipping quick too

And quite possibly old age comes into it. I don't bounce or recover as fast as I did. My buggered elbows, arthritic hands and occasional back ache put me off falling.
Also maybe its decease us older riders have reached the age where nostalgia sets in and we go back to things from our youth. Motorcycle, and real push bikes etc rather than new sports. 😆

over 55 just been riding off road 3 days in a row with teenage daughter - school hols in Aus'
rode an electric mtb the other week (all the hotel had) and in 10years will think about the help it gave me on the hills when I got lost and decided it weighed too much

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recovery as you get older is an issue and MTB does knock you around a fair bit

only 2 of us on the faster club MTB ride last night. I'm 50 in 6 weeks, Chris is 61. The youngsters went on the slower early ride

And Chris still climbs like a homesick angel!

Mountain biking has only been a popular sport for less than 30 years. There's plenty of older road riders out there. I suspect we'll see more and more older Mountain bike riders as time goes by

Nobeerinthefridge - Member
only 2 of us on the faster club MTB ride last night. I'm 50 in 6 weeks, Chris is 61. The youngsters went on the slower early ride

And Chris still climbs like a homesick angel!

^^^^^ aye, he's no bad for an old duffer 🙂

I took a look at that website, and decided not to stay. Maybe if they ran such a poll on here they'd have a larger response.

ort for less than 30 years. There's plenty of older road riders out there. I suspect we'll see more and more older Mountain bike riders as time goes by

This. Plus many older riders have grown up riding road bikes and are more invested in something they have done for a long time. I'll bet the situation is reversed in 10-20 years.

[i]Huge attrition rate of mtb riders after 50+[/i]

As above a poll on a forum is no indicator of what's really happening. As stated above it's highly likely older people won't bother going on forums.

If you could compare attrition rates of over 50's using mtbr with attrition rates of over 50's stopping riding I'd imagine there will be a strong correlation. When I'm not at work I very seldom look at the forum, I don't expect to be at work after 55, so I would be included in the 'stopped riding' set as I wouldn't be using the forum very much.

I'm a year and a bit off 50 and I can't see me easing off in the next 10 years.

I managed to ride mountain bikes from age 18-34 without really hurting myself, and getting better and faster in fits and starts.

34 - 37, I've ended up in hospital 3 times (albeit not for anything that turned out to be properly serious).

The idea of (say) ending up with metal in my bones for the first time at 40-something does not much appeal. I rather suspect that I'll get a touring bike shortly after the first time I do myself a proper mischief.

🙂

I find, as I get older, that it's more difficult to motivate myself to get out on the bike, although I believe that I always get something positive out of every ride - if I feel like this at 63 it's not too hard to imagine that in another two or three years "can't be arsed-ness" will take over and I'll not bother to ride bikes and just do more hill walking or more trail building.
Or go back to motor cycle trials maybe?

I'm one of those people who hates these dark, grey, wet, windy days of winter - in Greece, in summer, you couldn't keep me off the bike and for twenty weeks I rode, cleared trails, rode some more, looked at the world from big mountains and vowed that, when I returned to the grim North, I wouldn't let all that go. But here, less than a month later, I'm back in the situation where I go out riding not because it's what I most love doing but because I "should", because that justifies owning nice bikes and eating cake.
Some people have more dedication than me and maybe I'm not a real "cyclist", I know that I don't find that much pleasure in the endless swampfest we have around here at the minute, that's for certain.

Going out riding in the wind and rain is less appealing if you spend a lot of your working life out in it too, especially at my age.....

[quote="Loddrik"]I'll bet the situation is reversed in 10-20 years.Doubt it. Still a lot more road riders than MTBers even in the younger age groups.

Mountain bikes sales are flatlining while road bike sales are soaring. Why? I reckon I'm a typical "born again" cyclist and I've lost count of the numbers of other cyclists I know in the same position. I came back to cycling when mountain bikes appeared on the scene in the late 80s and I mountain biked fanatically for 21 years. However like mountaineering, mountain biking often requires a weekend or a full day out and car travel to riding areas. On top of that there's the filth, the wear and tear and the attrition on clothes and kit. By the time I had done 21 years of it I was losing my mojo and just in time, in my fifties, along came carbon road bikes with easy compact gearing, comfortable smooth-riding frames, broad padded handlebars with compact drops, SIS shifting, great handling and best of all, the ability to ride from the front door and come home an hour or two later feeling absolutely beasted. My fitness has increased from OK to excellent since moving over to the road.

On top of this road cycling has a "lore" and a subtlety that mountain biking doesn't have and I think a lot of riders in their forties and fifties are attracted to the scene for this reason. The industry panders to the age group by making road cycling glamorous and organising mass events like sportiffs and it's no coincidence that most participants in the new road cycling are blokes in their forties and fifties, a time of diminishing testosterone and an increasing tendency to gain weight and feel depressed and unfulfilled. Look at shops like Beacon Bikes in Whalley in the moneyed Ribble Valley and you'll see a smart road bike boutique selling designer gear to well-off blokes in their forties and fifties who've got time and cash aplenty. Road cycling certainly gives me structure, excitement, male companionship, excellent fitness, pride in my appearance and the endorphins I need at my age, almost 60. I didn't play team sports at school so it's the first time in my life that I have really taken part in a sport competitively and I'm absolutely loving it.

[i]Mountain bikes sales are flatlining while road bike sales are soaring. Why?[/i]

Boardman winning the TdF prologue in '94, Olympic golds for team gb track cycling squad, team sky, couple of TdF winners.

Plenty of older roadies round our way - there is a group I see on Saturday mornings who must range from late 50's to mid 70's.

Don't see so many old MTBers though - most seem to be in the 30's and 40's.

I suspect that with all its avatars, signatures and sub forums the annual attrition rate for people using mtbr must be pretty much 50% pa for the over 12s.

I ride mostly during the day and most of the other riders I see look as though they're over 50, plenty of them on the sort of expensive bike that I imagine is harder to afford or justify when you're younger. With any physical activity there's going to be an attrition rate as you get older and injuries accumulate but I'm not convinced it's any worse with mountain biking than for example football or running.

I feel well over 50. Can I stop now please?

😀

It is indeed true

54 next year and my concentration and co-ordination has decreased steadily since my late 40s. I know how to ride but it's not involuntary anymore I have to think about it. Quite a weird feeling if you've been MTBing for some time I guess it depends what you're used to.

Having said that people who know me think I'm 'doing well' to be able to MTB 'at my age' and when I look around they're probably right

Don't forget that, as Rio writes above, the injury rate from falls is much higher in mountain biking while road riding is comparatively injury-free and low impact. I didn't reckon I'd had a good day out on the mountain bike if I hadn't fallen off a couple of times but I'm happy to say that since taking up road riding I haven't had a serious crash, probably thanks to the handling skills and surface-awareness I learned as a mountain biker. I'm certainly the most confident descender in my group of buddies.

I'm still waiting for the big "off" where I get my backside skinned.....

Just turned 57 and done more mountain biking this year than ever before.

I thought internet forum usage was in big decline, losing out to FB etc....

[i] handling skills and surface-awareness I learned as a mountain biker[/i]

You are Phil Liggett and I claim my £5.

53 in a week.
I have lulls of MTBing and not - never did road cycling when younger, and the MTB started off as a way to get into the hills easier.

Now I still love it, and of the folk I am out with, I'd say many are in a similar age bracket - certainly 40+, most are 48-52. There's a guy, someone's dad, who is 72 I think - never let him get ahead of you as he will just turn the pedals all the time til you're eating dust..

But wester is a factor TBH, injuries (hips, arms, knees, general aches and pains).

What keeps me going as well is seeing some of my peers who are not in best condition, whereas I was the weedy, non-sporting loner at school (they were rugby / football). That gives a certain satisfaction!

I'm still waiting for the big "off" where I get my backside skinned.....

Well now that you've actually publicly stated this...

[i]I haven't had a serious crash, probably thanks to the handling skills and surface-awareness I learned as a mountain biker[/i]

I'd say you're pretty much doomed. Never vocalise it, you fool! 😉

My regular cycling buddies are my pal aged 59 and my son aged almost 17. Both of them have had two bad crashes resulting in time off the bike and repairs to their bikes as well as trips to A&E so I'm thinking that mine, when it happens, will be a big one.

46 here, and not doing as much off road as I used too due to niggling injuries.

Try and make up for it at the mo with road riding/Sustrans type stuff, which I've always liked.

Still looking forward to Snowdonia in a few weeks for some proper MTB'ing though.
🙂

Most of our riding friends are mid forties and up - quite a few in their sixties.

[i]handling skills and surface-awareness I learned as a mountain biker

You are Phil Liggett and I claim my £5.[/i]

😀 lol

I'm 54 and ride with some hardcore mtbers who are 60,58,57,56 and 44. They all road ride as well and spin etc, so are incredibly fit and would see off most riders half their age.

I on the other hand, shun the dark side and get out once a week on average, backed up by manic cross trainer workouts, which is how I hold my own.

What I would say about crashes is....since I started running my own business I am a LOT more careful on the descents as I just can't afford to be laid up with broken bones. If you have that fear in your mind, you definitely become less of a 'downhiller'.

The average age on our night-rides is often 50, as there are two of us who are 50 🙂 Others who join are mainly in their 40's.

And this weeks night-ride was off-piste at Inners :-), so not really a gentle XC trundle.

The younger crowd don't seem to be able to motivate themselves, and/or family/work 'issues'.

After a tumble in the summer and ending up on crutches once again, I was banned by the doctor from mtbing again.
And being on the wrong side of 50 people have said oooh that's a good thing. NO its not. A couple of years ago I was riding at least 3 times a week and was fairly fit.
I'm gutted and miss mtbing so much. I miss the social side, going out with friends on our weekly night ride, the thrill, being out in the hills, the fresh air and just everything that encompasses our sport.
I wasn't giving up anytime soon until fate dealt a bad hand 🙁

Take up road riding and you can still enjoy all of that but without the mud and the falls; there's still the thrill of being miles away from anywhere, self-sufficient and dealing with what Nature throws at you, the social side, the cafes, the pubs and so on. Buy some Cree lights off Eblag and you can extend your riding right into the winter nights. There's nothing better then being out in the lanes at night and you'll end up more than "fairly fit" as well.

Mountain biking has only been a popular sport for less than 30 years. There's plenty of older road riders out there. I suspect we'll see more and more older Mountain bike riders as time goes by

That's what I was going to say.

Re injury - just slow down on the descents. If you're careful it's not really risky IMO. Take up "gravel" riding if you have to.

I was banned by the doctor from mtbing again.

I'd fight that all the way! A lot of doctors simply want to see you uninjured - find one that understands there's more to life than simply not breaking bones.

Depending on the doctor, that could just be their standard response.
"It hurts when i do X"
"Don't do X then"
Doesn't matter if X is driving rusty nails into the palm of your hand, or opening packets of fruit pastilles.

Get a second opinion.

Waves....55 in a few weeks, still do plenty of miles on mtb, road and 'gravel'.

We don't have any gnarly stuff here in sunny Suffolk and an off will either see impact with mud, a tree or roots.

I don't use my MTB quite as much as I used to because I love cycling (in general) too much, and that includes road, and gravel as well. There just isn't the time to do it all!

Thanks for advice chaps.

I'm very nervous of road riding. In the past cycling to and from work for five years was a very scary experience.
However as soon as I'm able, the plan is to climb aboard our tandem and start off riding quiet lanes.

There is hope that I may get to ride an mtb again but this will be very easy stuff.

TBH, I've found being nervous on the road tends to make things worse than they actually are. You make bad line choices and mistakes in all sorts of other places. Braking, gear choice, road positioning.
All because of this overriding fear of the road.

Don't we do less of everything as we get older?

Apart from aching (potentially preventing us riding), and whinging.

Hang on a minute, not riding bikes, whinging a lot - that's most STW users!

This poll means nuthin.

When I started riding my neighbour was 58 vs my 43, he was much fitter than me and of course with better technique on the Surrey Hills trails.

Now he has quit at the age of 65 mainly as he broke his collar bone skiing and decided the risk of injury was too great. Recovery from even a simple fall can be quite lengthy once you get older. He still rides a big fast sports bike though. I do think its the risk of a fall which sees people leave MTB and move into road cycling, also perhaps less vibration.

65 year old dodderer still riding three times a week.(mainly in Surrey Hills)
Age UK Surrey "sponsor" a range of MTB rides for over 50s on average four times a week midweek. This autumn we had quite a few rides of over 30 people. This is obviously mainly retired folks with ages up to 80!! there is still alot of older riders about, just riding less with younger people and able to take breaks where necessary. Anyone interested will find details on Surrey Age UK website with a three month ride calendar.

57 heading to 58 and manage to ride most days MTB or road. I think road is the most scary, MTB quiet peaceful just you and trail

Injury is the most common problem. Any minor injury you might have shrugged off when your younger means days weeks of recovery. Gym, good diet and rest can help to stave off problems.

Had a good day at Bike Park Wales yesterday :-D. Finished at 15:00 an hour early. No point in risking it when your tired and the lights failing. Live to ride another day.

My one tip for the older ladies and gentlemen is increase your rest and recovery. One for the youngsters, if you have a poor life style now you wont be riding when your my age ;-D Its about maintaining fitness throughout your life.

Its perfectly possible that people ride less as they get older, the MENE demographic stuff also shows that road riding is more popular than MTB over 55.

of course its perfectly possible that many of the the 'over 55's' often never got hit by the first boom in mountain biking, so just never got into it - They would have been born pre '65, meaning that they would have already have discovered girls by the time BMX arrived, and cars/houses/families by the time MTB's were getting popular.

I know a fair few over 50's some in their seventies that ride off road.
I just don't think they see themselves as MTB'ers.
Whilst a good few ride their MTB's all year round, most I know see them as a winter use bike.
Whilst I've gone back to my road roots, I still get the MTB out every week for a good and fast ride.

Turned 50 this year and been riding since my teens. Got my first MTB in 1990 but couldn't get on the with "too cool for skool" attitude from some riders that still pervades today - lots of needless attitude about what bike you ride, yadda-yadda, not helped by bike companies who have confused the market with multiple bike types, changing standards which is off-putting to new entrants. I was still racing throughout my 40s, both road and CX but like a typical UK sportive the fields have gone up and the quality of riding gone the other way - I'll happily hit the road and ride hard with friends but see too many bad riders in races - serious accidents waiting to happen. Plus-size and fat bikes have attracted me back to MTB and providing a sense of adventure - the opportunity to ride places a normal MTB can't. Off to Rovaniemi in 9 weeks and will keep looking out for more 'epic' challenges whilst health and fitness permits.

If you look at XC racing fields its pretty much the same, the vets category 40-49 is still popular but the Grand Vets 50-59 fields are far smaller. Hard to believe these guys just stop riding though.

66 here and still riding. Only took up cycling (mtb only) at 40. I think your fitness level is harder to maintain when you pass, say, early sixties. I ride with a great bunch of guys from 20 to about 50yrs and now struggle to keep up. They are patient but tbh the time has come for me to find my own level; not just fitness but coping with reduced technical confidence, reaction times and that general feeling of anxiety that creeps in over time. I still intend to enjoy off road but at a pace and level dictated by me. This will certainly not mean just fire road bashing! Have never really considered road riding as personally I believe the risk from stupid vehicle drivers to be greater than off road. I know many will not agree with this but it's just my perception.

Over 50s don't bounce - at least not as well as their minds and mistakes require!

ninfan - Member
...of course its perfectly possible that many of the the 'over 55's' often never got hit by the first boom in mountain biking, so just never got into it - They would have been born pre '65, meaning that they would have already have discovered girls by the time BMX arrived

But we were already riding in the mountains on our dropbar bikes. Not doing jumps or such like - quickest way to fold a frame or wreck a wheelset on those days. My recollection is that most of us eagerly jumped on the mtb bandwagon because at last there was a bike for what we were doing. (I still ride as if my bike will collapse if I get its wheels off the ground - old habits are hard to shake 🙂 )

The query about whether the older riders are likely to be using computers may have been true about 10 years ago, but current 70-75 year olds are the generation who brought us the personal computer, and almost everyone I know is online and active in social media.

Dog Ears - Member
...I think your fitness level is harder to maintain when you pass, say, early sixties. I ride with a great bunch of guys from 20 to about 50yrs and now struggle to keep up. They are patient but tbh the time has come for me to find my own level; not just fitness but coping with reduced technical confidence, reaction times and that general feeling of anxiety that creeps in over time...

As a 70+, I agree with that. As I put it I have to train hard to remain as crap as I was last year. Loss of puff, and noticeably slower reactions make technical stuff harder. I'm now reverting to the RSF style riding of my younger days so I'm still enjoying riding, but I avoid group rides because I just don't like holding people up.

I've got the 'Puffer in a few weeks, and for the first time I'm dreading it. Maybe it's time to fit some gears. 🙂

There are way more niches these days. This year I spent more time on the vintage bikes which I didn't own last year. Did L'Eroica. Next year I expect to spend more time on the gravel bike which I just bought and planning WC2C next summer. 55 in 2 weeks BTW. So many niches, so little time.

Epic, even pre drop bars. As a kid I rode jumps and bomb holes better than I do now on a basic Raleigh three speed. Went everywhere on the same bike.

What Sturmey Archer for wet trails, we didn't ask....as for carrying spares, food, drink , mobiles (what???). How did we cope?

I'm the junior @50 on our Wednesday evening MTB ride by 25 years in one case!
He might take a bit to warm up but after 2 hrs he's going like a train, he still rides pretty much every day as well.

He has had more injury's from skiing in the last 10 years despite a few big offs on the bike in the same time.
His 63 year old girl friend is also a bit of a "just ride it" sort of mountain biker.

Just turned 73 and still on the MTB after 25 years, albeit much more selective about the trails I ride, certainly slower and I only ride a couple times a week now. Still feel safer on a technical single-track than I ever have riding on the road (TBH, the only time I ride on the road is to get to a trail)

I think MTB is quite an easy sport to 'fall out of', and I'll bet as you grow older there are more and more opportunities to 'fall out of it'.

After an unfortunate combination of injuries and stolen bikes I kind of fell out of mountainbiking (while living on Vancouver's North Shore of all places... 😥 ) and never really felt the urge to get back into it, road cycling and hillwalking filled the gap quite nicely, at less expense and complication, and provided a lot of adventures and epics that wouldn't have been possible or enjoyable on an MTB.

Perhaps I had genuinely just had enough of it though, I had been obsessive from the age of about 10 to the age of about 25... 😳

[i]They would have been born pre '65, meaning that they would have already have discovered girls by the time BMX arrived[/i]

We also rode 50mph mopeds and 250's on L plates, cycles were for kids.

I rode everywhere (lived in a very flat area, where everyone cycled, even my Mum did to work) as a kid, but as soon as I hit 16 it was a moped and then at 17 a 250 (and then a car). Didn't ride a cycle until 40 when it was getting too dangerous racing (m/c's) on the road, and bought an MTB.

53 next year ; ride every day when I'm off ( half the month) Just bought a new bike , going faster downhill than ever before . Came to realise that I've already lived 3 years longer than my late father and that there is only one life so live it !

Just about to be 55. Did the road thing as a teenager. Have a Giant Defy in the shed, but the road scares me. Being in the woods, or on a hilltop ridge like the Quantocks, gives me a peace I find nowhere else. I only started this MTB shit to stay fit for skiing, but I feel bad if I go a week off the bike. I've had a few too many CT scans, and am dialling it down now. I think I can pootle now in the woods with my partner till I can't get any more 26" tyres.

50 yrs old in 3 months, ridden since 1991, long litergy of back and neck plus knee problems from rugby and general idiocy as a young man, so my MTB is hit and miss over the year, I agree with the comments re road riding ... I feel more safe off road than on and whilst I do ride to get to the trails it is not something I enjoy but see the draw of the history the climbing and 'glamour' but the sportive side of it while I salute it what I saw on my ventures into that world on a 29er was some accidents waiting to happen and did due to lack of skill and 'macho' attitude....it is a sportive not a race guys. MTB world well for me never enduro' d unlikley to all too much organisation ..... And all the races of 24 seem too much but fascinate me.....so I will keep going g as fast as I can for as long as I can....my times are the same or better than 10 years ago .... When I train I recover well but the longer I rest the more my joints stiffen up, so listen to your body plus 50 plus is not the same as it was when I was growing up...I cannot think of many people still playing sport in their mid third or early forties,thiose who did were rarities.
and as a old man once said to me
You are a long time dead, do something.

50 in six months. Still riding. Tbh if depends what I'm doing work wise and I've become more nesh as I've got older, so not out in bad weather. Planning to do a bit of work life rebalancing soon so be out a lot more this summer

huge irritation rate of stw posters after 50+ ?

Wow, this thread really brought us oldies out of the woodwork didn't it!

I guess that whether or not you make the move to road riding depends where you live. I can quite see that somebody living in a city would prefer to stay off road but for somebody who lives on the edge of open country, stunning scenery and empty roads are there, right from the front door and road cycling looks a lot more attractive. Having a comparable cycling buddy of similar age, fitness and interests also helps to motivate you to get out and in this repect I'm lucky. Between us my buddy and I have found ways of extending the road riding, by using LED lights to extend the Wednesday evening hooligan ride (one hour of balls-out riding) into Autumn and Spring and even going to the Cycle Sport Pendle track at Nelson on days when it's icy or just unpleasant; you can belt around competitively for an hour and get a really good session of CV training without needing to worry about traffic or potholes and without the sweat and boredom of a trainer.

My over 50's cat in cyclocross is now (often) bigger than the V40's.

People just give up stuff when they get old, especially physical stuff.

Just short of 69 and still mtbing. Mainly Yorkshire Dales or North York Moors. Never quite got into road riding living in a big northern city but lots of off road stuff within easy reach.

Back sufferer for many years which has curtailed regular cycling over the last few years somewhat. However, I'm still a big hill walker & do this more than cycling. Usually ride with people in their 40,50s & 60s.

I live in Ribble valley and yes ride to the trails from the house but am still not happy road user especially with the VW bike laden van rushing to gisburn unaware of riders or the Sunday 4x4 driver..... Cross trainning is also a change in people dropping out of MTB to some degree more sports more opportunities and less time...see cyclo cross above big increase in numbers

Oh and a bit agesist re older people and use of technology...

Just turned 54. I live at the base of the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire so there's mountain biking on the doorstep and Brechfa is less than an hour away. I enjoy road riding too and we're lucky here as there are plenty of quiet lanes to ride which don't require lots of A/B road miles but I prefer to be off road as I like the feeling of being away from the masses.

I'm not megafit, fast or technically particularly competent but I'm regularly well into the top half of the strava leader boards for my local segments so I can't complain.

My body is beginning to hurt more now but usually when I've not been exercising rather than when I have.

Age does take its toll, but I think the mental element of it is much greater than people realise. In my head I'm still 21. I'm not going to let a number stop me doing what I enjoy. There's too many people younger than me that are old before their time.

Unlike some, I don't aspire to a life of leiure that consists of suduko, researching my family history and watching junk on tv. I'm going out on the bike and if it kills me so be it. I' don't want to die with my teeth in a jar and smelling of my own p*ss.

Rich.